Symbolic senior-level IDF commander to retire unless promoted

Yesterday, Brigadier General Ofer Winter stated that he will retire from the IDF in the summer if he isn’t appointed as a division commander. The former Givati Brigade Commander believes someone is preventing his promotion.

Yesterday (Thursday), former IDF Givati Brigade Commander Ofer Winter discovered that he wasn’t appointed as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Military Secretary. In response, Winter stated that he will retire from the IDF if he isn’t appointed as the head of a division.

The decision not to appoint Winter as Netanyahu’s Military Secretary didn’t surprise him at all and he stated that he didn’t even ask to be considered for the position. However, the Brigadier General stated that he feels someone is trying to prevent his promotion in the IDF.

Over the past several years, Winter became a symbol for the advancement of ultra-Orthodox recruitment to the IDF. Recently, the heads of the Religious Zionism movement have complained to Chief of General Staff Gadi Eizenkot that there isn’t even a single religious representative in the General Staff. Eizenkot promised to promote religious officers in the future.